Mining sulfur.



PATENTED SEPT. 8, 1903.

Pf HIGGINS. n MINING SULFUR. PPI-.NATION FILED Dnc. 17, 1902.

N0 MODEL.

WE1/mow PA'IGNTED SEPT. s P. HIGGINS. MINING SULFUR. APPLICATION FILED DBG. 17. 19,02.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

No NOMI..4

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j@ le @Salada 'we News Prune ro. Wommnm., WASHINGTON. my e UNITED STATES :Patented September 8, 1903.

" PATENT OFFICE.

MINING SULFUR.

SPECIFICATION forming partof Letters Patent No. 738,326, dated September 8, 1903.

Application filed December 17, 1902. Serial No. 135,571. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, PATTILLO HIGGINS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Beaumont, in the county of Jefferson and State of Texas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mining Sulfur, of'which the following is a specification.

This invention has relation to the extraction of sulfur from the stratum or bed bearing said mineral.

In mining sulfur in accordance with this in-` vention an opening is bored into the earth, terminating in the mineral-bearing stratum, Said Opening being cased in a similar manner to deep wells. A iiuid medium, such as air in a heated state, is forced into the mineralbearing bed and penetrating the fissures and following the veins of mineral melt the same for a radius about the bore or opening, depending largely upon the character of the strata and the intensity of the heat. A mineral-raising device is located within the heating zone 0f the heater and is adapted to elevate the liquid mineral as quickly as melted from the strata. This elevator is kept heated and discharges the liqueed mineral into vats.

For a full description of the invention and the merits thereof and also to acquire a knowledge of the details of construction of the means for effecting the result reference is to be had to the following description and drawings hereto attached. i

While the essential and characteristic features of the invention are susceptible of modification, still the preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is an elevation of an apparatus for mining sulfur constructed in accordance with the principles of this invention. Fig. 2 is a vertical central section of the preferred form of heater for .liquefying the mineral in its bed or stratum.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the following description and indicated in both views of the drawings by the same reference characters.

This invention contemplates the formation of a well, the same extending to the bed or stratum containing the mineral to be mined. The well is indicated at l, in the accompanyn ing drawings and is provided with a casing 2, the latter terminating about at the top or upper port-ion of the bed or stratum containing the sulfur or mineral to be obtained, so as not to obstruct the diffusion of the heat which melts the sulfur for a radius about the heater, as indicated at 3. A pipe 4 is passed through the casing 2 and is connected at its upper end with means for supplying a duid medium, such as air heated to the required temperature for liquefying the `mineral by contact therewith. A tube 5 is passed through the pipe 4 and is provided at its lower end with a suitably-incased electric heater G of any type of construction, said tube inclosing the wires 7, by means of which the electric current from a generator is conveyed to the coils comprising the heater. A tapering cap 8 is placed upon the upper end of the heater and around the tube and serves as a dei-lector for distributing the hot air as discharged into the bottom of the well through the pipe 4. The heater 6 is, in effect, a superheater to reheat or rather augment the temperature 1 of the already heated air delivered lo the bottom 0f the well from the pipe 4. It must be remembered that the air in its passage through the pipe 4 from the surface to the bottom of the well is in a measure cooled or loses an appreciable quantity of caloric, and the deficiency is compensated for by the heater 6, which insures delivery of the air into the fissures, veins, crevices, and the like of the mineralbearing stratum at a temperature suicient to insure melting of the sulfur or mineralwith which it comes in contact.

Air under pressure may be supplied to the pipe 4 by any suitable means, and, as shown, an air-reservoir 9 is provided for containing compressed air, and this reservoir is connected with a heater lO,of any substantial construction, by means of a pipe ll, the air being raised to the required temperature in its passage through the heater l0 and passing into the pipe 4 through the lateral branch l2. The air in its passage through the heater is expanded. Hence the necessity for the increased capacity of the outlet-pipe 12 over the inlet-pipe ll. The element l0 maybe an electric heater or used fuel of any kind, as may be found most economical.

Any contrivance or mechanism maybe re- IOO sorted to for raising the liqueedfmineral to the surface and discharging the same into vvats or other desired receptacle. The minf eral-raising apparatus must be locatedl within the heating zone of the mineral-liqueer in order to elevate the mineral as reduced to a flowing state. The device for elevating the molten mineral must of necessity be arranged within a Well near the well in which the liqueer is placed, this being shown in Fig. 1. The well for the elevator is provided with a casing 13 and receives the mineralraising contrivance, consisting of concentric pipes 14 and 15, having the annular space 16 formed between them closed at its upper and lower ends, the pipe 15 being extended above and below the pipe 14 and provided at its lower end with a nozzle 17 and having its upper end communicating with a delivery-pipe 18. The pipe 15 is the dischargepipe, and the liquefied mineral iiows upwardly therethrough into the delivery-pipe 18 and is kept in a fiowing state by hot air filling the space 16, said hot air; being supplied to the space 16 by means of a pipe 19 in communication with the pipe 12. One or more vats 2O are connected with the delivery-pipe 18 by branch pipes 2l, the latter being provided at their lower ends with upwardly-closing valves 22. The delivery-pipe 18 and the branches 2l are kept heated to prevent solidifying of the mineral and are preferably incased and encircled by the electric heating-coils 23. the space between the pipes 18 and 2l and the casing may be supplied with hot air from the heater 10 in a manner similar to the space 16, the purpose being to keep the mineral in a liquid state until delivered into a vat or other receptacle.

In accordance with this invention hot air is supplied to the mineral-bearing stratum or bed by means of the pipe 4 and is superheated by the part 6, and, penetratingr the strata, reduces the mineral for a radius about the heater 6 to a liquid state, as indicated at 3. After the mineral has been liquefied to the extent so as to reach the elevator the latter is set in operation and the molten mineral is raised to the surface and discharged into the vats or receptacles substantially in the manner stated. After the mining operation has begun the outiiow of the mineral in a liquid state is continuous, the saine being simultaneously reduced to a liquid state and elevated, there being no interruption, such as would be occasioned by operating the Well intermittently, first by melting the sulfur and then-replacing the liqueer by an elevator, and vice Versa in alternation.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is 1. The herein-described means for mining sulfur, the same comprising a liquefer introdescribed.

3. In apparatus for mining sulfur, an in cased superheater located at the bottom of the well in communication with the mineral-bearing stratu m, a tube extended from said heater, and a conical defiector between the upper end of the incased heater and the carrying-tube, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

r4c. In apparatus for mining sulfur, and in combination with means for elevating the liq- -uefied sulfur, the same comprising a discharge-pipe, a delivery-pipe in communication with the discharge-pipe, a branch pendent from the delivery-pipe for discharging the mineral into a receptacle, and an upwardlyclosing valve at the delivery Vend of said branch, substantially as specified.

5. In apparatus for mining sulfur, and in combination with the elevator for raising the liquefied mineral, said elevator comprising a discharge-pipe, a delivery-pipe in communication with said discharge-pipe, a series of branch pipes pendent from the delivery-pipe, a series of closed Vats vhaving the branch pipes extended therein, and upwardly-closing valves at the delivery ends of the branch pipes, substantially as described.

6. In combination, a pipe for conveying, air under pressure to the mineral-bearing stratum, means for heating the air, a superheater at the bottom of the Well, an elevator for raising the liquefied mineral located a distance from said superheater, means for supplying hot air to the elevator for keeping the mineral in a liquid state until discharged, a series of vats, and a series ofdischarge branches IOO IIO

in communication with the delivery-pipe and A PATTILLO HIGGINS.

Witnesses:

GENEVIEVE MATTHEWS, GEORGE G. WATT. 

